During my latest business trip, I got the crazy idea to buy a few vinyl albums. I read that Vinyl is seeing a resurgence, and I hadn’t listened to a record since the late 1980’s, except for the few nostalgic trips on our Victrola playing music from our great-grandparent’s era. There were really only two challenges to overcome: One, I didn’t have any vinyl records. And two, I didn’t own a turntable.
Fast forward 3 weeks, and I have amassed a collection larger than I ever had as a child – actually larger than any I remember seeing as a kid. How many, you ask? Well, my playlist is over 300. Yes, I have bought an average of 100 albums from the 60’s – 80’s a week over the last three weeks. I found a turntable rather quickly as well that is much better than anything I’ve ever had before.
Doing some quick math, I have at least 200 hours of listening to do. So I decided to just start playing them in order as my background music while I’m doing other things. Because the prices are so low – like between free and $1 per album – I’ve been bringing home anything that looked like it was in good shape. So this indiscriminate buying coupled with just playing them in whatever order they’re stacked is making for a varied day of music.
I’ve always had somewhat odd tastes, or at least eclectic tastes in music, so I don’t mind spending 40 minutes listening to something new or something I wouldn’t otherwise identify as “my kind of music.” Today I have definitely spent an unusual amount of time playing albums, but I expect many days to have a similar range. But today’s seems especially “weird” and lacking any common thread, so I thought it would be good to share. So here’s what I listened to today, in the order I experienced them. Sorry about the pictures – the light in the “man cave” isn’t great.
Album 1: George Thorogood and the Destroyers, Maverick
Ok, first I must admit this one wasn’t random. I’ve been a fan of Thorogood since college, but my wife can’t stand his music. So I put this one on right after she walked out the door for the morning. “I drink alone” was better than I ever remember on CD. It was a good way to start the day, but there was a little skip on side 2 of the album. I easily got $1 worth of enjoyment out of this one!
Album 2: Staying Alive, Motion Picture Soundtrack
Honestly, I don’t remember the second half of this album. Most of it sounded the same to me. Pretty sure this was a free one, but I can honestly say I’ve listened to it now. Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah….staying alive. It wasn’t that bad, and wasn’t the toughest to make it through.
Album 3: ABBA, Voulez Vous
I remember my mother listening to ABBA a lot when I was a kid. I didn’t recognize any of these songs, but I did find myself sitting on the couch in the listening sweet spot a few times during this album. It’s a pretty solid listening experience; I rather enjoyed it.
Album 4: Laurie Anderson, Strange Angels
Never heard of her before. First off, the sound quality of this album is stellar. This is the kind of sound that makes people say vinyl sounds better than digital music. It’s definitely more immersive and engaging because it just somehow feels more musical; more organic in nature. This isn’t my type of music, but I’d play it again as background music.
Album 5: George Carlin, AM/FM.
A classic comedy album from 1972, this one’s as old as I am. Somewhere in the mid 80’s I first watched Carlin’s seven dirty words on cable TV. This album focuses mostly on broadcast comedy, and it is pretty funny. Nowhere near as raw as I remember Carlin being, for which I’m thankful. Did have me crying from laughter, but definitely brought a few laughs as I was working around the house.
Album 6: Willie Humphrey, New Orleans Clarinet
This album is amazing. I’ve never heard of Humphrey, but man is he talented! There’s a lot of New Orleans jazz standards here. From the back of the album, they describe his tone like this: “it blends the richness of Mississippi gumbo-mud with the bite of Louisiana hot sauce.” This was a real treat, and unfortunately for my wife will reinforce my practice of buying anything that’s in good shape, because this album I will treasure. Better yet, it was recorded in 1974, and is sparkling clean. No noise to detract from Willie’s tone.
Album 7: Spyro Gyra, Freetime
Ok, I thought Spyro Gyra was going to be some sort of new wave, new age electronic music. Was I surprised when it was actually something like what I would probably call jazz fusion. Modern jazz with some great guitar. Another album I wouldn’t mind hearing again sometime, and it would be great background music for pre-dinner cocktails.
Album 8: Electric Light Orchestra, Discovery
“Don’t bring me down, grroosss”… You know, I always thought it was “don’t bring me down, Bruce.” The beauty of album sleeves with lyrics. So while that’s the iconic song at the end of side 2 on this album, side 1 is amazingly mixed and had me sitting on the couch for a solid 15 minutes. The last track on Side 1 is “The Diary of Horace Wimp”, which to my ears was heavily influenced by Sgt. Pepper’s era Beatles and is a thoroughly enjoyable song. I mentioned it to my wife, and she knew it well. Nothing like being 35 years late to the party, but better late than never!
Album 9: Barbara Streisand, The Way We Were.
Side 1 of this was almost excruciating for me to listen to, especially following Willie, Spyro Gyra, and ELO. My wife came home as the title track was playing, so I went up to make lunch. As we ate, we listened to side 2, and I finally started to appreciate the beauty of Streisand’s music. It’s wonderful dinner music. Oh- and she looks pretty darn beautiful on the cover.
Album 10: The Love Unlimited Orchestra, White Gold
Ohhh, yeah! Barry White. The first time I actually listened to him that wasn’t in a movie or TV show. Actually, I didn’t even realize it was Barry White when I bought it. I really enjoyed this as well. I guess I’d call it “after dinner music.” 🙂
Album 11: Boston, Boston
What a way to change gears! This debut album literally had 7 hits out of the 8 songs. I have never considered myself a Boston fan, and I’ve never owned any of the groups music. But this album rocks. More importantly, it is sonically amazing as well. The acoustic guitars, drums, electric guitars, and wailing voices are all immaculately reproduced. The vinyl is in amazing shape, as is the cover. I can’t imagine how this album has survived 40 years, with this kind of hard driving, entertaining rock and roll, and it seems unplayed. Wow, is this a great album. Luckily, there’s more Boston in the queue.
Album 12: Quincy Jones, Mellow Madness
This is probably my first Quincy Jones album too. I was pretty busy during this album, but it was nice. I think the madness part was this album didn’t seem very cohesive. There’s a lot of variety in the sound of the songs. It’s like he just picked a bunch of songs he liked and put them all in one album. So many of the albums today had a consistent feel, or almost told or story, or lead you through the sonic transitions. This one felt more like an old mix tape.
Album 13: Burt Bacharach’s Greatest Hits
Hmmm…elevator music at it’s finest. Or maybe it’s 70’s sitcom music, like the Mary Tyler Moore Show. I guess it’s like late 60’s or 70’s easy listening. Which is weird, because it wasn’t easy for me to listen to! Hey, if you like it, this album had good sound. The horns on “The Look of Love” (I think that was the song) were amazingly clear and filled the space wonderfully. Great stereo imaging, great use of ambient sounds. Just about put me to sleep, though.
Album 14: Billy Idol, Rebel Yell
Well, there’s a large scratch at the beginning of Rebel Yell, but it’s still better than Bacharach to my ears! The recording is flatter sounding than some of the others today, perhaps condition related, or maybe it’s just the fact that there seem to only be 4 instruments and it’s just they way they were recorded. Also weird, is they are side 3 and 4, but it’s only a single album. Maybe he wanted to do a double LP, but just didn’t have enough material! Eyes without a face opened up a lot. The fake “hand claps” with the screaming guitar just filled the room from all angles. And side 2 was amazing, absolutely surrounding me with sound on “Flash for Fantasy”, so maybe the pressing on side 1 was a little “off”.
So today was a good day of listening to vinyl albums. By far the most complete albums I’ve listened to, maybe even for a week. I’ve been playing a few tracks or a song, maybe an entire side, bt I’m going to work on just listening through an LP or three, or 14, in a sitting. Do yourself a favor and listen to some vinyl records. It does sound “different” than CD, and much better and more dynamic than MP3.
Aaron Outspoken 